The Flame and the Dragon

The Legend of the Dragon Lord

It was many a year ago, at least by mortal reckoning when a proud and magnificent family ruled the lands from a shining castle of marble and stone. They were both fierce and protective, yet kind and loyal and fair. Their reign was a golden age and the people were eternally grateful to them. It wasn't always like this, however. The royal family had been faced with many foes over the years. The most fierce and dangerous of the enemies came from within their castle.

The royal family had always had a royal sorcerer to protect and entertain them, but one day, the sorcerer's young, orphan apprentice found him experimenting with dark magic.

He had been planning on overthrowing the royal family for years. The apprentice immediately went to inform the King. The sorcerer was promptly exiled to the farthest mountains and his family name banished from the realm. The townspeople and the country flourished under the peaceful and prosperous reign of the King, Queen, and their son. The King, though had eccentric and unorthodox manners of ruling the kingdom, was an exceptionally good King.

His Queen was his equal in every way, an eccentric warrior whose strong spirit and golden heart could not be tamed.

Both loved their people and made the fact known both within and outside the walls of the castle. But the most beloved of all the royal family was the only son. He was truly a handsome man both externally and within. A proud and stubborn man but with a will as strong as a dragon and a heart brighter than gold, eyes as beautiful and green as a stunning emerald. Though it was uncommon in that day and age, the royals spent as much time among their citizens as they could.

Among his people, the prince was kind and fair, but when the people were in danger he defended them with the ferocity and power of a dragon, earning him a nickname.

The Dragon Lord. The people loved their rulers and their rulers loved their people, but the dark destiny of all kingdoms would soon doom this peaceful paradise. Deep in the mountains, the exiled sorcerer swore vengeance upon the royal family for their betrayal and his thirst for the crown. Yet above all he despised the prince. He envied the prince with all his soul. He hated how the people loved and respected him, how everyone idolized the Dragon Lord instead of him.

He hated how the prince commanded the love, respect, and attention of everyone who laid eyes on him without even trying.

He hated how, while he'd had to struggle and work for every little thing his entire life, the people simply gave the Dragon Lord their love on a silver platter. Yet the prince did nothing with it. Even if the King and Queen were the true rulers, the exiled sorcerer knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was the Dragon Lord who had the kingdom's love and respect. He vowed one day to return and rip away everything the Prince loved and treasured so deeply.

He wanted to do it in the most malicious and unforgiving manner he could concoct.

Banished to the darkest shadows and forced to live a solitary existence, his hatred festered until it consumed him. One dark day, after years of training in the dark arts, his bitterness, jealousy, and rage allowed him to unlock the darkest, unforgiving arts of the Cursed Realm. The darkness that consumed him made him a prisoner of his power yet afforded him the ability to control some of the darkest magic. Only one thing burned within his poisoned mind now. His never-ending lust for vengeance...

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It was a day that should've been a day of great celebration. The Prince's coronation on his 21st birthday, the day he became a man, and the day he would be no longer known as the Dragon Lord, but the King. It was on this day that everything changed. The sorcerer, wearing a mask of glamour to hide his black hair and the wickedness in his eyes with an appearance more commonly seen among the people attended the new king's majesty with a terrible plan.